CHIP: Commodity based Hazard Identification Protocol for emerging diseases in plants and animals

This project comprised the development of a commodity-based hazard identification protocol for biological hazards in plants and animals as a decision support tree programmed in Excel. The content of the decision tree is based on the results of a systematic review of pest and pathogen characteristics, a review of risk assessment schemes and on expert judgement. Application of the protocol results in an indication of the level of likelihood of entry of animal and plant pathogens/pests in the area of destination associated with the commodity/pathway, and it guides the decision regarding potential actions to be undertaken in the search for existing and emerging pathogens/pests

Occupational exposure to gases/fumes and mineral dust affect DNA methylation levels of genes regulating expression

Many workers are daily exposed to occupational agents like gases/fumes, mineral dust or biological dust, which could induce adverse health effects. Epigenetic mechanisms, such as DNA methylation, have been suggested to play a role. We therefore aimed to identify differentially methylated regions (DMRs) upon occupational exposures in never-smokers and investigated if these DMRs associated with gene expression levels. To determine the effects of occupational exposures independent of smoking, 903 never-smokers of the LifeLines cohort study were included. We performed three genome-wide methylation analyses (Illumina 450 K), one per occupational exposure being gases/fumes, mineral dust and biological dust, using robust linear regression adjusted for appropriate confounders. DMRs were identified using comb-p in Python. Results were validated in the Rotterdam Study (233 never-smokers) and methylation-expression associations were assessed using Biobank-based Integrative Omics Study data (n = 2802). Of the total 21 significant DMRs, 14 DMRs were associated with gases/fumes and 7 with mineral dust. Three of these DMRs were associated with both exposures (RPLP1 and LINC02169 (2x)) and 11 DMRs were located within transcript start sites of gene expression regulating genes. We replicated two DMRs with gases/fumes (VTRNA2-1 and GNAS) and one with mineral dust (CCDC144NL). In addition, nine gases/fumes DMRs and six mineral dust DMRs significantly associated with gene expression levels. Our data suggest that occupational exposures may induce differential methylation of gene expression regulating genes and thereby may induce adverse health effects. Given the millions of workers that are exposed daily to occupational exposures, further studies on this epigenetic mechanism and health outcomes are warranted

Age-related accrual of methylomic variability is linked to fundamental ageing mechanisms

Background: Epigenetic change is a hallmark of ageing but its link to ageing mechanisms in humans remains poorly understood. While DNA methylation at many CpG sites closely tracks chronological age, DNA methylation changes relevant to biological age are expected to gradually dissociate from chronological age, mirroring the increased heterogeneity in health status at older ages. Results: Here, we report on the large-scale identification of 6366 age-related variably methylated positions (aVMPs) identified in 3295 whole blood DNA methylation profiles, 2044 of which have a matching RNA-seq gene expression profile. aVMPs are enriched at polycomb repressed regions and, accordingly, methylation at those positions is associated with the expression of genes encoding components of polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2) in trans. Further analysis revealed trans-associations for 1816 aVMPs with an additional 854 genes. These trans-associated aVMPs are characterized by either an age-related

Blood lipids influence DNA methylation in circulating cells

Background: Cells can be primed by external stimuli to obtain a long-term epigenetic memory. We hypothesize that long-term exposure to elevated blood lipids can prime circulating immune cells through changes in DNA methylation, a process that may contribute to the development of atherosclerosis. To interrogate the causal relationship between triglyceride, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels and genome-wide DNA methylation while excluding confounding and pleiotropy, we perform a stepwise Mendelian randomization analysis in whole blood of 3296 individuals. Results: This analysis shows that differential methylation is the consequence of inter-individual variation in blood lipid levels and not vice versa. Specifically, we observe an effect of triglycerides on DNA methylation at three CpGs, of LDL cholesterol at one CpG, and of HDL cholesterol at two CpGs using multivariable Mendelian randomization. Using RNA-seq data available for a large subset of individuals (N = 2044), DNA methylation of these six CpGs is associated with the expression of CPT1A and SREBF1 (for triglycerides), DHCR24 (for LDL cholesterol) and

Controlling bias and inflation in epigenome- and transcriptome-wide association studies using the empirical null distribution

We show that epigenome- and transcriptome-wide association studies (EWAS and TWAS) are prone to significant inflation and bias of test statistics, an unrecognized phenomenon introducing spurious findings if left unaddressed. Neither GWAS-based methodology nor state-of-the-art confounder adjustment methods completely remove bias and inflation. We propose a Bayesian method to control bias and inflation in EWAS and TWAS based on estimation of the empirical null distribution. Using simulations and real data, we demonstrate that our method maximizes power while properly controlling the false positive rate. We illustrate the utility of our method in large-scale EWAS and TWAS meta-analyses of age and smoking

Refining Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and Autism Spectrum Disorder Genetic Loci by Integrating Summary Data From Genome-wide Association, Gene Expression, and DNA Methylation Studies

Background: Recent genome-wide association studies (GWASs) identified the first genetic loci associated with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The next step is to use these results to increase our understanding of the biological mechanisms involved. Most of the identified variants likely influence gene regulation. The aim of the current study is to shed light on the mechanisms underlying the genetic signals and prioritize genes by integrating GWAS results with gene expression and DNA methylation (DNAm) levels. Methods: We applied summary-data–based Mendelian randomization to integrate ADHD and ASD GWAS data with fetal brain expression and methylation quantitative trait loci, given the early onset of these disorders. We also analyzed expression and methylation quantitative trait loci datasets of adult brain and blood, as these provide increased statistical power. We subsequently used summary-data–based Mendelian randomization to investigate if the same variant influences both DNAm and gene expression levels. Results: We identified multiple gene expression and DNAm levels in fetal brain at chromosomes 1 and 17 that were associated with ADHD and ASD, respectively, through pleiotropy at shared genetic variants. The analyses in brain and blood showed additional associated gene expression and DNAm levels at the same and additional loci, likely because of increased statistical power. Several of the associated genes have not been identified in ADHD and ASD GWASs before. Conclusions: Our findings identified the genetic variants associated with ADHD and ASD that likely act through gene regulation. This facilitates prioritization of candidate genes for functional follow-up studies

DNA methylation signatures of aggression and closely related constructs : A meta-analysis of epigenome-wide studies across the lifespan

DNA methylation profiles of aggressive behavior may capture lifetime cumulative effects of genetic, stochastic, and environmental influences associated with aggression. Here, we report the first large meta-analysis of epigenome-wide association studies (EWAS) of aggressive behavior (N = 15,324 participants). In peripheral blood samples of 14,434 participants from 18 cohorts with mean ages ranging from 7 to 68 years, 13 methylation sites were significantly associated with aggression (alpha = 1.2 x 10(-7); Bonferroni correction). In cord blood samples of 2425 children from five cohorts with aggression assessed at mean ages ranging from 4 to 7 years, 83% of these sites showed the same direction of association with childhood aggression (r = 0.74, p = 0.006) but no epigenome-wide significant sites were found. Top-sites (48 at a false discovery rate of 5% in the peripheral blood meta-analysis or in a combined meta-analysis of peripheral blood and cord blood) have been associated with chemical exposures, smoking, cognition, metabolic traits, and genetic variation (mQTLs). Three genes whose expression levels were associated with top-sites were previously linked to schizophrenia and general risk tolerance. At six CpGs, DNA methylation variation in blood mirrors variation in the brain. On average 44% (range = 3-82%) of the aggression-methylation association was explained by current and former smoking and BMI. These findings point at loci that are sensitive to chemical exposures with potential implications for neuronal functions. We hope these results to be a starting point for studies leading to applications as peripheral biomarkers and to reveal causal relationships with aggression and related traits.Peer reviewe

Mendelian randomization integrating GWAS and eQTL data reveals genetic determinants of complex and clinical traits

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified thousands of variants associated with complex traits, but their biological interpretation often remains unclear. Most of these variants overlap with expression QTLs, indicating their potential involvement in regulation of gene expression. Here, we propose a transcriptome-wide summary statistics-based Mendelian Randomization approach (TWMR) that uses multiple SNPs as instruments and multiple gene expression traits as exposures, simultaneously. Applied to 43 human phenotypes, it uncovers 3,913 putatively causal gene-trait associations, 36% of which have no genome-wide significant SNP nearby in previous GWAS. Using independent association summary statistics, we find that the majority of these loci were missed by GWAS due to power issues. Noteworthy among these links is educational attainment-associated BSCL2, known to carry mutations leading to a Mendelian form of encephalopathy. We also find pleiotropic causal effects suggestive of mechanistic connections. TWMR better accounts for pleiotropy and has the potential to identify biological mechanisms underlying complex traits